3 Tips To Save Lawn, Plants From Strange Weather

The unusually warm weather is causing tulips and crocuses to emerge from the ground a month early. And there's a good chance forsythia will start blooming this week too, according to Clayton Heims, lawn and garden manager at in Winchester.

The strange fluctuations in temperatures can cause plants stress, Heims said. He offered these three recommendations to help give your lawn, shrubs and plants a healthy start this spring.

1.) CRABGRASS PREVENTION: Heims said when the forsythia blooms that's usually the time to start thinking about protecting your lawn from crabgrass, and this year is no different. He recommends putting down a crabgrass preventer this week but warns that if temperatures drop, you may have to do this again next month.

2.) FEED PLANTS, SHRUBS: "When plants come out of dormancy, they're hungry and looking for food," Heims said. "You need to go in there now. Work it into the soil now." For acid-loving plants such as rhododendron, azaleas and hydrangeas most people use Holly-tone which is a 4-3-4 mix (meaning it has 4 percent nitrogen, 3 percent phosphate, and 4 percent potash). However, Heims recommends you use a 10-10-10 garden food for these plants if they have been established for three or more years.

3.) GIVE BULBS A FIGHTING CHANCE: Tulips, crocuses, daffodils and other bulbs are in danger because they're already starting to come up and if temperatures drop significantly, they could die. Heims recommends feeding them with Bulb-tone, a 3-5-3 mix. It will strengthen them and make them more resilient to stress, therefore giving them a better chance to survive this crazy weather.

Do you have any gardening tips for unseasonably warm weather? Share them in the comments below.